


axl hates coffee, why is he in a coffee shop

by fallingyoonjin



Category: Guns N' Roses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Mentions of Sex, duff and slash besties, izzy and axl besties, steven's there too dw, they're all college students
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:15:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27727986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallingyoonjin/pseuds/fallingyoonjin
Summary: “what?” he snaps. his voice is deeper than slash expected, jesus. not that he was expecting anything, but the man looks like he should have a different voice. a bit higher. he clears his throat again.oraxl and slash meet at a coffee shop, it's more or less cute.
Relationships: Axl Rose/Slash | Saul Hudson
Comments: 9
Kudos: 34





	axl hates coffee, why is he in a coffee shop

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this in one sitting, jesus fricking christ i'm tired
> 
> anyways, i rly had fun writing this, even though i always thought i would never write a coffee shop au of all things. my finger slipped, oops

“caffé americano for slash!”

slash raises his arm, tries to get through the sea of bodies packed together. “here! sorry, can i get- yeah thanks. sorry, squeezing through, sorry.”

when he finally gets to the counter, he gives duff a look, who just shakes his head and offers him his coffee. “man, i’m never getting out of here if these people don’t leave. jesus, what is it with tuesdays and college students?” duff complains while watching slash take a careful sip of his coffee. too many times he’s burned his tongue in front of everyone, he’s learned his lesson.

“midterms coming up. you know how it is. people take it seriously”, he shrugs, already scanning for open tables over everyone’s heads. duff snorts.

“oh yeah, and you don’t?”

slash throws a grin over his shoulder. “i was blessed with amazing intelligence and an even better memory”, he taps his temple. “thanks for the coffee. you better get back to work before matt beats your ass.”

duff glances behind him with a grimace. “he can try, but then who’s gonna save him from all the flirting girls? i’m his only chance at staying sane, and he knows it. see you tonight.”

slash waves a hand and surveys the café. there’s no empty tables left, every area taken over by students lugging laptops and papers, looking more dead than alive at this point. with a sigh, he’s about resign himself to a standing spot, when he sees a table in the back corner of the café. it’s not _empty_ , per se, but empty enough. there’s only one guy occupying it, looking absorbed in his work. another student, then, he guesses.

slash pushes past the people waiting for their coffees again, quickly apologizing to the girl he accidentally elbows. she waves him off with a smile and a ‘no problem’. he approaches the guy – who still hasn’t looked up from his laptop – and clears his throat. after getting no reaction, he raps his knuckles on the table. the guy startles and lifts his head.

slash takes an instinctive step back at the look he’s receiving. the guy is glaring at him with venom in his eyes, the blue in them icy.

“what?” he snaps. his voice is deeper than slash expected, jesus. not that he was expecting anything, but the man looks like he should have a different voice. a bit higher. he clears his throat again. “right. i was wondering if i could sit here. every other table is full, so…” his voice trails out hesitantly, when the man keeps staring at him. has he even blinked once? “or not! it’s fine, you know, i can walk to the park, it’s probably nice and warm, it’s…” slash squints at the window. it’s raining. “that… well.”

the guy kicks a chair out, the screechy sound catching slash’s attention. he stares at the chair and then at the guy, who now is looking at him like he’s crazy. he indicates his head to the chair, eyebrows raised, still somehow managing to make it look threatening.

“well? did you wanna sit down or not?”

“i mean, yeah. do _you_ want me to sit down?”

the guy scoffs, directs his attention back to his laptop. slash takes that moment to sit down, like the guy wouldn’t notice him if he tried to inconspicious. “literally couldn’t care less, man. when you gotta sit down, you gotta sit down.”

“yeah, no offence man, you just sort of give off the impression that you want to murder everyone you look at.”

the guy hums. “it’s my default. you’ll get used to it.”

silence falls between them as slash sips his coffee and watches the other type something down in a furious pace. he probably should take out his own work, because regardless of what he says to duff, he really does care about his education. he doesn’t move though, keeps watching instead. there’s something about the other’s pale skin, a lonely freckle sitting on top of his left cheekbone, and the way his red hair falls straight over his shoulders. you can barely see his eyelashes, they’re so light. his appearance is completely opposite to slash’s, who’s all dark curls, dark eyes and dark skin.

there’s something though, in the redhead, that makes slash think they could be similar too. he has on a bandana, is wearing a nirvana t-shirt. he could be a poser, one of those people who wear band shirts without even knowing the band, slash certainly has met plenty of those, but something tells him that’s not the case here.

slash shifts in his chair, gets more comfortable. “so, you go to ucla? don’t think i’ve seen you around.”

the redhead glances up, seems to debate whether to answer, before swiping his hair out of his face and leaning back. slash gets distracted by his slim fingers for a moment.

“yeah, political science. it’s hard work, but i don’t know. i like it”, he admits and crosses his arms. he nods to slash’s coffee cup. “is slash your real name?”

slash looks at his name scribbled on the plastic in duff’s neat handwriting. “just a nickname. real name’s saul, but no one except my mum calls me that.”

“you don’t look like a saul.”

“what do i look like?”

“slash”, the guy grins and it’s teasing and makes his eyes crinkle and squint and something moves in slash’s stomach. he scrambles to say something, to distract himself from the slow realization dawning on him.

“what’s your name then? i can’t keep referring to you as ‘the guy’ in my head, gets confusing.”

“axl. axl rose. you’ve probably heard of me, if you go to ucla too.” axl diverts his eyes and stares at the pen he’s fiddling with intently. he sounds bitter, and slash understands why, because he _has_ heard of him. ucla may be fucking huge, but stories spread, especially since they apparently live close to each other. he’s heard of a guy who keeps thrashing dorm rooms and getting in fights with people left and right. he’s just never been able to match a face to the name.

“you’re the one who…” should slash ask him if the stories are true? he doesn’t want to be rude, but he’s curious.

axl huffs out a breath and knocks his head against the wall gently. “if you’re asking if i flew off my rocker a few times and caused a bit of property damage, then yeah. that’s me. almost knocked a professor out one time too.”

slash stares. how has he not been suspended? “how have you never been suspended?”

axl laughs, but he doesn’t seem to be amused. “’cause i didn’t actually knock out a professor. just really wanted to. and for the damages, i just took more loan and paid them off. what’s a little more debt anyway, when you’re paying insane tuition already.”

slash shakes his head and drinks more coffee. it’s already cooling. “jesus, man. you have some issues.”

the redhead shrugs and leans over his laptop again. “whatever.”

it’s obvious the conversation has ended. slash drinks the rest of his coffee slowly, alternating between watching the traffic outside and axl doing whatever he’s doing. he doesn’t acknowledge slash again, but he doesn’t seem as hostile anymore either, so slash doesn’t feel a need to hurry. the feeling in his stomach just grows the more he stares at axl and his pretty hair and pretty eyes and how he keeps swiping his hair back even though it’s secured with a bandana, like it’s more of a habit, and slash might be unobservant sometimes, but he knows enough about himself to know when he’s developing a crush.

__

it’s almost 10pm and duff is studying on his bed. he works all day, so nights are the only times he really has time to do anything. slash knows he should leave him alone and let him concentrate, but he can’t get axl out of his head, and if he has to deal with it, so does duff. best friend duties.

“i don’t see the big deal. you found him cute, nothing wrong with that. why are you acting like your life is ruined?” duff muses while highlighting a sentence in yellow.

slash groans and turns in his bed to look at his friend. “because”, he draws it out in a whine, “what if i’ll never see him again? campus is a huge place, not to mention los angeles. why didn’t i ask for his number, jesus christ.”

“because you don’t know if he’s into guys”, duff supplies helpfully. slash snaps in his direction. “yeah, that part.”

duff sighs and caps the highlighter, setting it next to his textbook. he finally looks at slash, exasparated but patient as always. “look. i know axl.” he holds a hand when slash whips up to look at him in excitement. “not like that. we have a few common friends, like izzy, so i’ve seen him around. i don’t know if this is my place to tell you, but he seems pretty open about, so”, duff shrugs, “he’s gay. as in definitely into men. you have a shot, if you’re willing to shoot it.”

slash should feel relieved to know axl is into guys, but instead he feels more nervous. what if axl isn’t into _him_ in particular? that would hurt even more than if axl was straight. and then there’s the whole ‘having to approach him again when he has no idea where he spends his time in the first place’ thing.

“well, if you know him, you can give me his number. right?”

duff throws him a look. “i don’t have his number. did you already forget about the part where we’re not friends?”

slash rolls his eyes. “so ask izzy then. i didn’t even know they were friends.”

“yeah, they went to school together in indiana. also, i’m not asking izzy. not like he would even give me axl’s number.”

slash stares at the ceiling and lets himself wallow in his pity. “what the fuck am i gonna do now?”

duff gives him a sympathetic smile and turns a page. “sorry, man.”

__

two weeks later slash steps back into the coffee shop duff works at. it’s significantly emptier now that there’s no need to study 24/7. all the better for slash, who’s just glad he doesn’t have to wait in line.

he walks up to duff at the register. he looks bored as he leans on the counter with his elbows. “do you hate crowds or not, make up your mind already”, slash teases and pulls out his wallet. “i’ll take a macchiato, thanks.”

duff stretches and accepts the cash slash gives him. “i’d like this a lot more if i didn’t have to work the register. i bet matt is somewhere in the backroom on his phone, the motherfucker.” he throws a dirty look toward the closed door, as if matt could somehow see it.

slash drums his fingers on the counter, watches duff prepare his drink. “hey, have you seen axl around lately? is he, like a regular or something?”

“uhhh, yeah”, duff says distractedly, “he’s actually here.”

he comes back with a coffee cup, writes slash on it and tries to hand it over. slash just gapes at him and quickly spins around. he ignores duff’s muttered “wow, way to be subtle” behind him in favor of scanning the half-empty café. it’s not hard to spot axl, what with the flaming hair and the pink leather jacket he has on.

he spins back to face duff and grips the countertop with white knuckles. “duff, why didn’t you text me? i need time to prepare! oh fuck, what is he wearing, he looks so good, fucking fuck. duff, how do i look?”

duff looks amused, but he still tilts his head in every direction before giving a thumbs up. he’s a good friend like that. “you look great. now, _please_ go ask his number so i don’t have to listen to you moaning about him anymore. and take your damn coffee.”

slash does take his coffee, even though he suddenly wishes he had water or something instead. he turns to look at axl, who’s sitting in the same seat as last time. his setup is also the same, lots of papers and pens surrounding a laptop, where he’s typing so fast slash can hear the clacking all the way to the front.

taking a deep breath, he slowly approaches the table, gripping his coffee tight. axl looks just as pretty as last time, if not more. it’s sort of making slash’s brain glitch. it’s also ridiculous how attached he is when they’ve spoken once for five minutes.

this time slash doesn’t even ask for permission, just pulls out a chair and sits down, gently setting his cup down. axl doesn’t look up, but he does pull some of his papers to clear some room. it makes slash smile.

“hi, axl.”

axl hums in response, clicking around on his computer. slash lets him do his thing for a while, sipping leisurely on his coffee. finally, axl stretches his back, grimacing at the loud ‘pop’s. he rubs his eyes, stifling a yawn before focusing them on slash.

“there’s plenty of tables free, you know. you don’t have to sit there”, he says casually, eyeing slash’s coffee. he tilts it toward axl, asking a silent question. axl shakes his head. “i don’t like coffee, prefer tea actually. shouldn’t you like tea more too, considering you’re british?”

slash laughs. “ _half_ -british. and i do like tea actually, but this is a coffee shop, they don’t sell tea here. how do you know about me being english anyway?”

axl opens his mouth, but closes it immediately. a slow flush creeps up his neck. slash follows it in fascination, wonders how low it goes. “izzy told me. _unprompted_.” axl levels him with a mildly threatening look that makes slash enthusiastically nod in agreement. “sure.”

he lifts his cup to his lips to hide a smile. “also, i know. i just wanted to talk to you.” at axl’s inquisitive look, he clarifies: “what you said earlier. how it’s empty. i know.”

he offers axl a soft smile, watches him squirm as the flush that was just fading rushes right back. it’s cute, but it also makes slash think of things he shouldn’t be thinking of in public, so he clears his throat and changes the subject.

“do you study every day or am i just catching you at bad times?”

axl sighs, gestures to the papers. “i kind of have to study a lot. political science is _hard._ and competitive as fuck. but no, i don’t study every day, that would be lame.”

“i study linguistics. pretty fun. lots of grammar.”

“what d’you wanna be when you graduate?”

“literally have no idea”, slash laughs and leans back in his chair. “kinda always thought i’d be in a band. college just kind of happened”, he shrugs.

axl’s eyes light up and he leans forward, chest brushing the laptop screen. “you like music? i wanted to be in a band too, you know. what bands do you like?”

slash is a little taken aback by the other’s enthusiasm. he likes it though, how bright axl’s eyes are, how open he looks. “anything from the 70s, 80s. acdc, aerosmith, metallica, you name it.”

axl leans even more forward. “do you want to go get drinks with me?”

slash blinks. axl looks intense, staring at him with gleaming eyes. he looks _hungry_ , suddenly. “um. yeah?”

axl sits back, smiling and looking very satisfied. “good. it’s a date. give me your phone.”

axl is a special one, slash thinks as he watches him frown in thought while trying to decide what to name himself in slash’s phone. he had come in with a plan, to woo axl and then ask him out, but the redhead had completely destroyed that plan in just three seconds. slash has a feeling a relationship with axl might just be the thing he’s been waiting years for.

__

“you think duff will kill us if we sexile him?” axl murmurs against slash’s throat, nipping lightly at the skin. slash groans at the sensation and rolls them over. a soft ‘oof’ leaves axl’s mouth as his back hits the mattress.

“probably. we should do it anyway.”

axl giggles and wraps his legs around slash’s waist, grounding their hips together. slash has to take a moment to look at him, to press this moment to memory. axl looks beautiful laid out like that, red hair a messy halo around his flushed face. slash leans down to steal a quick peck.

“he’s going to lose it one of these days. he’s been hinting that we should hang out in my room sometimes.” axl pushes some of slash’s curls away from his face, brushing a gentle thumb over his eyebrow. “as if. steven’s barely talking to me, he would just kick me out completely.”

slash pulls away slightly, looks at the slight downturn of axl’s lips. “are you fighting again?”

axl nods jerkily, pursing his lips together. “he tore my textbook by accident, and i _know_ it was an accident, but i still yelled at him, and now he won’t even talk to me.”

slash cradles axl’s face in his hands and sighs. “baby, you have to apologize to him.”

axl scoffs, and it should be mean and cold, but instead he just looks like he wants to cry. “i know! but every time i think about the stupid textbook i just get so mad again. i really am trying, it’s just… it’s hard.”

“i know, babe.” and he really did know. axl had opened up to him about his anger issues, how he struggles with his temper, and how he hates fucking up his relationships with others because of it, but how he can’t control it. slash knows izzy has been trying to get him to go see a therapist. “it’s okay. i can go with you to talk to him, yeah?”

axl nods and pulls slash into another kiss.

__

“hi, duff!” slash calls out to the tall blonde, who waves back from where he’s making someone’s coffee. there’s a small smile on his lips as he surveys the café. axl should be here already, unless he’s running late, which wouldn’t really surprise slash. the man has an extremely annoying habit of showing up late to every single one of their dates. it used to make slash insecure, thinking the other was trying to stand him up. now he just accepts it as one of axl’s quirks, and even though it’s still annoying, axl as a whole is annoying, so. he’s used to it.

it’s been exactly one year since their first date. true to axl’s proposition, they went to a bar to get drinks and then ended up messing around in the toilets. it was a fun night. it was also extremely mortifying to get caught sucking dick by one of slash’s professors. a fun night.

axl hadn’t wanted to make their anniversary into a big thing, he never was much into things like that, so slash had compromised. they would have a simple date at the same café they first met. duff has also agreed to spend the night at a friend’s, to give them privacy for tonight.

slash’s smile grows when he spots axl. he’s at their usual table, of course. it used to be an axl thing, but now it’s their thing.

axl looks up from his phone with a glare as slash approaches him, but it melts into a small smile when axl realizes it’s him. he was right, a year ago, when he said looking murderous was his default. it used to be intimidating, but now it’s just cute. he was right about that too, that slash would get used to it. surprisingly, axl is right about many things. except for when he argued with steven about how rabbits aren’t mammals, they’re rodents. (they checked later. they are mammals.)

slash leans down to press a soft kiss to axl’s lips, whispering a ‘happy anniversary, love’ against them. axl smiles into the kiss, murmurs it right back. christ, slash is in love.


End file.
